VOlUME 05 ISSUE 06 JUNE 2022
Mohamed ACHAMRAH
Moulay Ismail University, FLHS in Meknes, Morocco
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ABSTRACT:
Language plays diverse significant roles in identity construction. It is not just a means of communication but can also be used to express oneself through a given language in a given community. The English language is essential in shaping first-year university students’ identities. This case study explores how these students construct their identities by following a group of first-year university students who attend the English studies at Moulay Ismail University, FLHS, Meknes in Morocco. This study mainly examines the relationship between identity construction and English language learning. It employs Lave and Wenger’s (1998) framework of communities of practice as the theoretical foundation to investigate how these university students’ identities are constructed. It also followed a qualitative research design involving semi-structured data collection interviews. A thematic analysis was used to understand how first-year university students constructed their identities in English language learning in the university context. The study findings indicate that first-year university students perceived English language learning as an investment, displaying a close relationship between English language learning and their identity construction. This paper also suggests that English language learning is a complicated practice of obtaining a set of language abilities and knowledge through which these students’ identities are continually constructed and reconstructed. The results of this study have substantial implications for English teaching and learning in Moroccan universities.
KEYWORDS:Communities of Practice; English Language Learning; Investment; Students’ Identities
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